Trump’s 9th week in office set to continue whirlwind actions, expected conversation with Putin
President Donald Trump’s ninth week in office is expected to include a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the nations inch closer to reportedly securing a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. “The president uses the timeframe weeks, and I don’t disagree with him. I am really hopeful that we’re going to see some real progress here,” U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said on CNN on Sunday. “Nobody expected progress this fast. This is a highly, very complicated situation, and yet we’re bridging the gap between two sides. So, lots of things that remain to be discussed, but I think the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.” Witkoff’s remarks come after U.S. and Ukrainian officials agreed to the terms of a potential ceasefire with Russia during a meeting in Saudi Arabia last week. Witkoff subsequently met with Putin in Moscow on Thursday, when the pair held “positive” and “solution-based” discussions. “Before this visit, there was another visit, and before that visit, the two sides were miles apart,” Witkoff added. “The two sides are, today, a lot closer. We had some really positive results coming out of the Saudi Arabia discussion led by our national security advisor, Mike Waltz, and our secretary of state, Marco Rubio.” TRUMP, PUTIN CALL EXPECTED THIS WEEK, AS ADMIN EDGES CLOSER TO RUSSIA-UKRAINE CEASEFIRE DEAL: WITKOFF A pair of American astronauts who have been left on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months are in the midst of returning home and could reach Earth later this week. ‘WE HAVE NEVER BEEN THIS CLOSE TO PEACE’ SINCE RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE, LEAVITT TELLS REPORTERS Astronauts Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore traveled to the space station in June of last year for what was intended to be an eight-day mission, but it devolved into a long-term stay after their spacecraft malfunctioned. Tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk launched a rescue crew to bring the astronauts home over the weekend through his company SpaceX. The SpaceX team reached the space station overnight Saturday, inching the astronauts closer to their expected return to Earth later this week. Trump has railed against former President Biden for not rescuing the astronauts during his administration, telling the media earlier this month that Biden “left them alone” in space because he was “embarrassed by what happened.” “The most incompetent president in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this president won’t let that happen,” the president continued at the time. The Trump administration is in the midst of mass deportation efforts, including deporting Tren de Aragua gang members under a wartime law invoked by Trump last week. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to halt its deportations of illegal immigrants under the act on Saturday, ordering planes carrying migrants to return to the U.S. ‘ALIEN’ ENCOUNTER: ISS CREW MEMBER PLAYS JOKE AS SPACEX TEAM ARRIVES The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 allows deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing and has been invoked three times before, including, during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. Boasberg set a hearing for Friday regarding the deportation efforts, teeing up another court battle over Trump’s immigration policies. NASA’S STUCK ASTRONAUTS WELCOME REPLACEMENTS WHO ARRIVED TO SPACE STATION ON SPACEX CAPSULE In the meantime, the Trump administration has already flown hundreds of Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador, where the nation’s president agreed to house the individuals in a notoriously locked-down prison designed to handle cartel and gang members. “Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable),” El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted to X on Sunday morning, accompanied by video footage of planes on a tarmac. EL SALVADOR TAKES IN HUNDREDS OF VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS FROM US, EVEN AS JUDGE MOVES TO BLOCK DEPORTATIONS Bukele responded to news of Boasberg’s order on X, remarking, “Oopsie… too late,” accompanied by a laughing emoji. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Trump is anticipated to have another busy week back in the Oval Office, which follows him signing 89 executive orders since Jan. 20 – marking more executive orders signed in just months than any of his predecessors signed their entire first years in office, stretching back to President Jimmy Carter. Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
COVID anniversary shines new light on effort to support doctors’ mental health
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). As the fifth anniversary of COVID-19 lockdowns approaches, bipartisan lawmakers and medical professionals across the country are rallying behind a bill that would address a growing crisis in the healthcare field. Dr. Lorna Breen was chief of the ER department at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Known by colleagues as a tireless worker who cared about patients and protocol, Breen committed suicide while on a short break in Virginia in the midst of the pandemic to get a break from the high-pressure world of emergency medical care. A New York Times story quoted Breen’s father as calling her death a “casualty” of the pandemic and said she had no history of mental illness, but had seemed “detached” as of late. Proponents of the Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act told Fox News Digital that the mental strain, burnout, and stress of working in a high-pressure, life-saving field demand stronger support systems. A recent study from a North Carolina healthcare group showed that more than half of doctor-respondents said they wouldn’t go into the primary care field if they could “do it all over again.” According to its proponents, the Lorna Breen Act provides billions of dollars in resources to help prevent suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral health conditions among healthcare professionals. Two longtime ER physicians who are leading the charge on the nongovernmental side of things spoke with Fox News Digital this week. Dr. Randy Pilgrim – chief medical officer for SCP Health – and Dr. Bentley Tate, the emergency room company’s chief wellness officer – both have decades of experience working in the high-pressure field and said that now, as the U.S. looks back at the COVID-19 pandemic, is the time to bring this issue to the fore. SCP Health works across 35 states and is a leading voice on mental healthcare for physicians, they jointly said. Doctor wellness must be a major priority, and is often overlooked, Pilgrim said, noting that patients come to doctors to better their own health, and that it is, rightly for the patient, a one-way street in that regard. “Patients can’t be faulted for the fact that when they come to their clinician, their physician or other clinician, they really are thinking mostly about their own health and how they can improve that,” he said. AMERICANS SPLIT ON COVID 5 YEARS AFTER THE PANDEMIC “For many, many centuries there has been this phrase ‘Physician, heal thyself’, which is variably interpreted. But in the context of this, it means the healthier the doctor is, the more available they are for the patients themselves.” “So, as mental health issues became more and more prevalent, more and more transparent, and more and more acknowledged that the stresses of the healthcare workforce are significant. It became very clear that destigmatizing that as well as providing resources to help, that was a very real phenomenon,” Pilgrim added. “Patients don’t come to us saying, ‘Doctor, are you OK?’ But at the end of the day, they want to know that we are [well] and it’s our responsibility to be that way.” Mental health strains on physicians were largely an “underground phenomenon” until COVID-19 put physicians’ well-being into the forefront of the news. During the pandemic, gurneys were rolled out in front of overburdened urban hospitals, and physicians, both rural and otherwise, were working long shifts, resulting in burnout and strain. “Physician suicide is the far end and very unfortunate far end of that spectrum,” Tate said. LINGERING LUNG DISORDERS 5 YEARS AFTER COVID “But there are so many people who are frustrated, who are weary. And the reality is, we all lose when a physician retires ten years before they thought they were – or 10 years into their career, with so many years of training [goes and] transitions into where they’re not seeing patients directly, but some other aspect of health care because they just got so frustrated or worn down or frankly, in a bad mental state.” When doctors step away from patients for such personal reasons, the entire healthcare system loses, Tate said. When physicians are well and in the right frame of mind, patients benefit. Pilgrim, who has also worked directly to push for Lorna Breen Act legislation, added that there is bipartisan acknowledgment that U.S. doctors need Congress’ full support. “At the end of the day, people realize this is about helping clinicians, but mainly so that they can help patients – But this is a patient-centered act. So, that’s really easy to unify around,” he said. With the advent of DOGE scrutinizing every dollar the feds spend, there is also a new focus on how to pay for things like this act, Pilgrim added. “People are looking for relatively small amounts of dollars that will have a relatively large and outsized impact,” he said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “And this actually is another thing that unifies congressmen and women is that this is a relatively small money in the grand scheme of things. And if you can impact just a single physician and make them him or her better, the hundreds to thousands of patients that benefit from that becomes an exponential impact.” Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va. and Roger Marshall, R-Kan. – a doctor himself – are leading the Senate version of the bill, but did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who is joined by Reps. Jennifer Kiggans, R-Va., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., on the House version said Thursday that the act is truly bipartisan and that she will work hard to pass it so that “doctors, nurses, physicians, and all healthcare providers can take care of themselves as they care for their patients.” “Healthcare professionals dedicate their lives to serving their patients, often at the expense of their
Minnesota Republicans to introduce bill defining ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ as mental illness
A group of Minnesota Republican lawmakers plan to propose legislation requiring the state to include “Trump derangement syndrome” under its definition of mental illness. Five GOP lawmakers are set to introduce the bill in the state’s Senate on Monday and refer it to the Health and Human Services committee, according to Fox 9. The bill aims to specifically add “Trump derangement syndrome” to the state’s definition of mental illness. “Trump derangement syndrome” is defined as “acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump,” according to the bill. BILL MAHER SAYS TRUMP DOESN’T HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON REGARDING FREE SPEECH AFTER MAHMOUND KHALIL ARREST “Symptoms may include Trump-induced general hysteria, which produces an inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology in President Donald J. Trump’s behavior,” the proposal reads. With a split state legislature, the bill is unlikely to be approved. Mental illness is defined as a disorder or other issue that is included in a diagnostic codes list. “Trump derangement syndrome” is not recognized as a mental illness anywhere. President Donald Trump and his supporters have used the term “Trump derangement syndrome” to criticize political opponents who they believe have a biased obsession against the president and his policies. While the “derangement syndrome” as a political phrase has been made popular in recent years to mock critics of Trump, the term was actually coined in 2003 by the late political commentator Charles Krauthammer to describe critics of then-President George W. Bush. DEMOCRATS LASH OUT AT SCHUMER FOR ‘BETRAYAL’ OF SIDING WITH TRUMP The Minnesota proposal features the same phrasing Krauthammer used to describe “Bush derangement syndrome,” which was defined as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush.”
Trump says he will be speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday
President Donald Trump said he will likely be speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday while speaking with reporters on Air Force One Sunday night. The president was returning to Washington, D.C., from Florida when he told the reporters of the upcoming discussion. “We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday,” Trump said, sharing that the possibility of divvying up land, power plants and other assets has been discussed in an attempt to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
White House blasts judge for attempting to halt deportation flights to El Salvador: ‘No lawful basis’
The White House criticized a federal judge’s attempt to halt the Trump administration’s recent deportation flights, a move that was deemed “too late” by the Central American leader who accepted the deportations over the weekend. On Friday, President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing. The act had only been successfully invoked three times in U.S. history: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg recently ordered an immediate stop to the deportations in order to determine whether Trump’s invocation of the 1798 act was legal – but a Trump administration official told Fox News that the planes carrying the migrants had already left U.S. airspace when the judge issued his order. In a statement to Fox News on Sunday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Trump administration “did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order.” EL SALVADOR AGREES TO ACCEPT US DEPORTEES OF ANY NATIONALITY FOLLOWING MEETING WITH RUBIO “The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory,” Leavitt said. “The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict.” “Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear – federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion,” Leavitt added. “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil.” RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AGENDA On Sunday, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele responded to Boasberg’s order by joking, “Oopsie… too late,” in an X post. He also shared footage of heavily-armed Salvadorean authorities escorting the alleged gang members off the planes, shaving their heads and rounding them up in their prison cells. A total of 261 illegal aliens were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador yesterday – 137 of which were through the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, 101 others were Venezuelans removed via Title 8 and another 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members. Two others were MS-13 ringleaders and “special cases” for El Salvador. A senior Trump administration official confirmed the numbers to Fox News on Sunday, explaining that the migrants’ alleged crimes included kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, aggravated assault, prostitution, robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Trumps takes jab at Biden over ‘autopen signature’ following concerning report over who ran the White House
President Donald Trump trolled former President Joe Biden in a social media post on Sunday, highlighting the controversy surrounding his alleged “autopen signatures” during his presidency. On Truth Social, Trump posted three images side-by-side – his official portrait from his first term, a picture of Biden’s autopen and then finally his official portrait for his second term. Trump then pinned the post. “The person who was the real President during the Biden years was the person who controlled the Autopen!” Trump wrote in another post on his account. BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT Trump spoke about the autopen signature issue while speaking from the Oval Office on Friday about NATO spending. “The man was grossly incompetent. All you have to do is take a look, he signs by autopen. Who was signing all this stuff by autopen? Who would think to sign important documents by autopen?” Trump asked reporters. “These are major documents you’re signing, you’re proud to sign, yet you have your signature on something and in 300 years, they say ‘oh look.’ Can you imagine everything was signing by autopen? Almost everything. Nobody has ever heard of such a thing. It should have never happened,” Trump continued. The post sparked a firestorm on social media with many backing Trump as Democrats have faced backlash over accusations that they dismissed Biden’s health concerns and engaged in a cover-up throughout the end of his term. “President Trump JUST POSTED the AUTOPEN that ran the White House from 2021-2025 next to his portraits,” one X user commented. LIES ABOUT BIDEN’S AGE, HEALTH DURING HIS PRESIDENCY IS A ‘SCANDAL OF EPIC PROPORTIONS,’ SCOTT JENNINGS SAYS “Biden was an illegitimate president. Who controlled the auto pen?” another X used commented. Vice President JD Vance also shared the image on X without any comment. “Corrupt establishment was running the country from 2021-2025. Who controlled the auto pen for Biden?” Missouri Lieutenant Governor David Wasinger commented, sharing Vance’s post. Elon Musk also chimed in on the photo, posting on X, with two emojis – a bullseye and laughing face. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s team about Trump’s post featuring the autopen image, but did not receive a response. In a new report published by an arm of the Heritage Foundation, it was revealed that the majority of official documents signed by Biden allegedly used the same autopen signature, reinvigorating concerns over the former president’s mental acuity and if he “actually ordered the signature of relevant legal documents.” “WHOEVER CONTROLLED THE AUTOPEN CONTROLLED THE PRESIDENCY,” the Oversight Project, which is an initiative within the conservative Heritage Foundation that investigates the government to bolster transparency, posted to X on Thursday. CHUCK SCHUMER CONFRONTED WITH OLD CLIP OF HIMSELF DECLARING BIDEN’S DECLINE ‘RIGHT-WING PROPAGANDA’ “We gathered every document we could find with Biden’s signature over the course of his presidency. All used the same autopen signature except for the announcement that the former President was dropping out of the race last year. Here is the autopen signature,” the group claimed on X, accompanied by photo examples. The Oversight Project posted three examples showing Biden’s signature, including two executive orders and the president’s announcement he was bowing out of the 2024 presidential race. The signature on the two executive orders, one of which was signed in 2022 and the other in 2024, showed the same signature that included what appeared to be a line, followed by “R. Biden Jr.” Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment on the Oversight Project’s findings on the autopen investigation, but did not immediately receive a reply. Fox News Digital also examined the signatures on President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which are often signed in public or in front of the media, during his first administration and second administration and found the signatures were also the same. The Oversight Project continued in its findings that investigators should determine “who controlled the autopen” during the Biden administration. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Trump thanks El Salvador for taking in alleged gang members deported from US: ‘We will not forget’
President Donald Trump thanked El Salvador on Sunday after the country’s president shared dramatic video of hundreds of alleged migrant criminals landing in Central America after being deported from the U.S. Trump, who recently invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing, thanked Nayib Bukele on social media. “Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership,” Trump wrote. “We will not forget!” Trump also referred to the apprehended migrants as “the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats.” EL SALVADOR AGREES TO ACCEPT US DEPORTEES OF ANY NATIONALITY FOLLOWING MEETING WITH RUBIO A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador yesterday – 137 were via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, 101 were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members and two were MS-13 ringleaders and “special cases” for El Salvador, according to the official. The rap sheets for those removed included kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, aggravated assault, prostitution, robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer. A Trump administration official also confirmed to Fox News that the planes carrying the migrants were already outside of U.S. airspace when a federal judge ordered the planes to return. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered an immediate stop to Trump’s efforts to deport the alleged gang members so he could have more time to consider if Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act was illegal. “We did not defy a court order. The order came too late, and illegals were already in international airspace,” the official said, as first reported by Axios. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed the official’s sentiment, telling Fox News that the order “had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory.” “The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict,” Leavitt said. “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil.” In an X post, Bukele said the migrants arrived in El Salvador and were transferred to a “terrorism confinement center,” where they will stay for at least a year. The intense video showed heavily-armed Salvadorean authorities surrounding the alleged gang members, forcing their heads down and transporting them into facilities one by one. RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AGENDA The video also depicted the suspects getting their hair shaven and walking with their hands behind their necks as they were rounded up into their prison cells. “Over time, these actions, combined with the production already being generated by more than 40,000 inmates engaged in various workshops and labor under the Zero Idleness program, will help make our prison system self-sustainable,” Bukele wrote. “As of today, it costs $200 million per year.” He also said that the apprehension of the MS-13 members “will help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors.” “As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime,” he added. “But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action.” “May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States.” Bukele’s post was also warmly received by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who thanked the Salvadorean leader for his “assistance and friendship.” “President @nayibbukele is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he’s also a great friend of the U.S.,” Rubio said in an X post. “Thank you!” Fox News Digital’s Brooke Curto and Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.
Rubio says US ‘doing the world a favor’ by striking Houthi rebels
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended President Donald Trump’s airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, arguing that the U.S. is “doing the world a favor” by targeting the militant group. “We’re doing the entire world a favor by getting rid of these guys and their ability to strike global shipping. That’s the mission here, and it will continue until that’s carried out,” Rubio said during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. The comments come after Trump announced on social media Saturday that he had ordered “decisive and powerful” airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, arguing that that terrorist group has “waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones.” HOUTHIS POST CRYPTIC VIDEO OF AMERICAN FLAG-DRAPED COFFINS “It has been over a year since a U.S.-flagged commercial ship safely sailed through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aden,” Trump said in the post. “The last American Warship to go through the Red Sea, four months ago, was attacked by the Houthis over a dozen times…. These relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk.” “To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” The strikes come in response to the Houthis’ continued disruption of transit in the Red Sea, something Rubio said Sunday would come to an end with the strikes. TRUMP ANNOUNCES ‘DECISIVE AND POWERFUL’ AIRSTRIKES AGAINST HOUTHI TERRORISTS IN YEMEN “This is not a message,” Rubio said. “This is an effort to deny them the ability to continue to constrict and control shipping.” Rubio noted that the militant group, which is backed by Iran, had “struck or attacked 174 Naval vessels of the United States” over the last year, a time period that also saw the group launch 145 attacks on commercial shipping vessels. “So we basically have a band of pirates, you know, with guided precision anti-ship weaponry and exacting a toll system in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world,” Rubio said. “That’s just not sustainable.” The secretary of state said the strikes would continue until the Houthis “no longer have the capability” to continue to carry out such attacks. “We’re not going to have people sitting around with the missiles attacking the U.S. Navy,” Rubio said. “It’s not going to happen. Not under President Trump.”
Longtime Rep. Nita Lowey dead at 87
Former Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., has died at age 87, according to her family. Lowey, who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives for 32 years and was the first woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee, died Saturday after a long battle with metastatic breast cancer, according to a report from the New York Post. “Nita’s family was central to her life as she was to all of ours,” the longtime lawmaker’s family said in a statement. “We will miss her more than words can say and take great comfort in knowing that she lived a full and purposeful life.” NITA LOWEY, LONGTIME DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER AND HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS CHAIRWOMAN, TO RETIRE The New York lawmaker was born Nita Sue Menikoff in the Bronx in 1937, later graduating from Bronx High School of Science before going on to receive a degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1959, the Post report noted. She married attorney Stephen Lowey in 1961, and was first elected to Congress in 1988 to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District. A longtime ally of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Clinton family, Lowey became chair of the House Appropriations Committee in 2019. She frequently clashed with President Donald Trump during his first term in office in her time as chair, telling Lohud in 2019 that the president was an “embarrassment.” DEMOCRATS LASH OUT AT SCHUMER FOR ‘BETRAYAL’ OF SIDING WITH TRUMP “The president is an embarrassment and as a member of the Congress and as the leader of the Appropriations Committee, we have the responsibility to serve the people,” she said at the time. Lowey announced her retirement that same year, with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., telling the New York Post that the longtime lawmaker was a “principled, passionate and powerful public servant.” “Over the course of her historic career, Congresswoman Lowey courageously served her constituents and stood up for New Yorkers while shattering multiple glass ceilings along the way,” Jeffries said Sunday, adding that Lowey was a “mentor and friend.” Lowey is survived by her husband, three children and eight grandchildren.
DOGE chain of command revealed in court filing, showing Musk is not the boss
The acting administrator of DOGE detailed that Elon Musk is not an employee of the United States DOGE Service and does not report to the acting DOGE chief, a court filing shedding additional light on the internal workings of the office shows. “Elon Musk does not work at USDS. I do not report to him, and he does not report to me. To my knowledge, he is a Senior Advisor to the White House,” Amy Gleason, the acting administrator of DOGE, wrote in a declaration included in a court filing on Friday. Musk has been the public face of DOGE for months, as President Donald Trump celebrates the billions of dollars in savings his administration has secured through DOGE’s work to gut the federal government of overspending, mismanagement and fraud. Musk, however, “has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself” and is working as a senior advisor to the president, a White House official said in a separate court filing in February. The White House identified Gleason as the official acting chief of DOGE last month. Gleason, a little-known government employee who also worked in the first Trump administration, provided a declaration in a court filing involving a lawsuit against DOGE last week that further explains how the government office operates. WHO IS DOGE’S NEWLY IDENTIFIED ADMINISTRATOR AMY GLEASON? ‘WORLD-CLASS TALENT’ “In my role at USDS, I oversee all of USDS’s employees and detailees to USDS from other agencies,” Gleason wrote in her declaration. “I report to the White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles.” Gleason previously worked for the United States Digital Service, which was founded in 2014 by former President Barack Obama as a technology office within the Executive Office of the President. Trump signed an executive order in January that renamed the office to the United States DOGE Service, establishing DOGE. MEET THE FAR-LEFT GROUPS FUNDING ANTI-DOGE PROTESTS AT GOP OFFICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY In addition to overseeing USDS, Gleason also oversees the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization – an office established by Trump in January that sits under the USDS umbrella and will expire on July 4, 2026. Gleason explained in her declaration that under Trump’s executive order establishing DOGE, agency chiefs were charged with creating their own DOGE teams to find and eliminate overspending. Gleason said the respective agency DOGE teams are comprised of agency employees or detailees who do not report to her. WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS WHO WAS APPOINTED AS ACTING ADMINISTRATOR OF DOGE “Every member of an agency’s DOGE Team is an employee of the agency or a detailee to the agency. The DOGE Team members – whether employees of the agency or detailed to the agency – thus report to the agency heads or their designees, not to me or anyone else at USDS,” she wrote. “In some instances, members of agency DOGE Teams are detailees from USDS to the agency. Where USDS detailees are assigned to an agency DOGE Team and acting in their capacity as a detailee to the DOGE Team, they are supervised by personnel of the agency to which they are detailed,” she added. Gleason has been described by former colleagues as “world-class talent” who frequently works long hours and is apolitical. DOGE’S PLANS TO OFFLOAD GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS SUPPORTED BY FORMER GSA OFFICIAL DOGE has saved an estimated $115 billion in government spending in the form of workforce reductions, contract cancellations, regulatory savings and other initiatives, according to its website. Trump has touted DOGE’s work repeatedly in public remarks, including rattling off a list of government grants that were axed since his inauguration during his first address to a joint session of Congress earlier this month. “Forty-five million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma,” Trump said as he provided examples of federal waste on March 4 after thanking Musk and DOGE for its work. “Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. Eight million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. Sixty million dollars for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. Sixty million. Eight million for making mice transgender.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Democrats and federal employees have railed against DOGE since the investigations and mass terminations at various agencies got underway following Trump’s inauguration, including staging protests outside federal buildings in Washington, D.C., and specifically protesting Musk for his involvement with DOGE.